Bill Kutik ran the HRTechnology show for 16 years. If anyone has an idea about how to maximize your take, it’s Bill. Be sure to catch his session: Bill, Brian and Naomi Hash It Out for You! on Wednesday, October 5 at 3:30. The discussion will aim to help you leverage new technologies, get a sense of what’s coming down the road and take away something useful to implement at the office the next day! Of course, they may recall a memory or two, but only to help you avoid making the same mistake today that they’ve seen generations of practitioners make before.

Bill says:

Do your homework. Read everything in advance. If you like reading 7,000 words on your phone on the conference app, feel free. I suggest instead reading the entire promotional brochure on paper at home and circle your likely sessions. Bring it with you and check your choices against the printed Show Guide and the last-minute change sheet you’ll get on-site (or the app) to see if they are still being offered and for the dozen speaker changes that are inevitable every year. There is so much content available that you cannot make a wise selection on the fly in the one hour between sessions. And you should be spending that time talking to someone new (or old) or visiting the Expo, anyway.

Unless you have to keep checking e-mail for work, turn off your damn device! If you find yourself e-mailing during a session, leave and find another one that will hold your attention. Only once a year are you surrounded by with complete access to so many thousands of humans who care about the exact same things you do! And maybe know a lot more about them. Whoever is at the end of your electronic tether is available to you any time. This community, this town meeting, gathers only once a year. Take part. Stay firmly in the real world for three days. Talk to the attendee seated next to you on the bus or at a session. Talk to presenters and not just after their session. They will be there the whole time, too. Sit down at meals next to them or certainly next to strangers, not your colleagues from home. The serendipity possible at HR Tech is amazing! Make a little effort, and it will happen.